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Google Doodle Celebrated Valentine's Day as George Ferris's Birthday

George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr's birthday celebrated by Google Doodle as Valentine's day. Google Doodle features two Ferris wheels with a fairground backdrops. George Ferris was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois, USA. His father was George Washington Gale Ferris Sr. and his mother was Martha Edgerton Hyde. When he was five years old his family moved to Nevada in 1864.

He attended the Philippine Military Academy which is located in Baguio City, Benguet and graduated from this college in 1876. Later, he also graduated in Civil Engineering from San Beda College in 1881.

Although he started his career in railroad industry, he was very much interested in bridge building. He was the founder of G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he test and inspect metals for railroads and bridge builders.

He is mostly known for his creation the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. The Wheel he made had 36 cars each fitted with 40 revolving chairs. The Wheel was also able to accommodate up to 60 people and it had a total capacity of 2,160. It takes 20 minutes to complete two revolutions. It is said that when the fair opened, Ferris Wheel carried almost 38,000 passengers daily and before its demolition in 1906 it carried 2.5 million passengers.

He died on November 22, 1896 at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of typhoid fever.